5 minute read
On The Road Again: Bishop Castle
Bishop Castle, Rye, Colo.
By RAY BALOGH | The Municipal
Well, in Jim Bishop’s case: build a castle — a 160-foot edifice, half a century in the making, majestically rising at 9,000 feet above sea level and dwarfing the surrounding trees of the San Isabel National Forest near Rye, Colo.
Bishop laid every single one of the thousands of stones used in the construction, handling them each an average of six times as he hauled them in from the nearby Wet Mountains, chiseled them to his own specs and mortared them into place.
In addition, he felled and milled timber into lumber; carved railroad ties into archway forms; built scaffolding; hand dug foundation holes, some 12 feet deep; mixed his own mortar; created a complex pulley system; and crafted ironwork for stairs and customized hand railings, outdoor bridges and walkways, window frames, structural supports, inner roof support trusses and various ornamental enhancements.
The result — so far — is a palace, albeit never inhabited, consisting of three stories of interior rooms, including a grand ballroom; soaring turrets; a steeple and bell tower; elevated wrought iron bridges and walkways; winding staircases; and a fire-breathing dragon made from discarded hospital warming plates and powered by a donated hot-air balloon burner.
Bishop, who does acknowledge divine assistance — he describes the castle as “built by one man with the help of God” — began his tireless labor in 1969, a decade after he purchased the heavily forested 2 1/2-acre parcel when he was 15.
Bishop and his dad, Willard, who owned an ornamental wrought iron shop, spent 10 summers preparing the groundwork for an eventual family cabin. Jim married his sweetheart, Phoebe, in 1967 and two years later commenced building a one-room cottage. In
ABOVE LEFT: A family of Amish visitors eyes the front facade of the 160-foot Bishop Castle. (Photo by Rejaymes/Shutterstock.com)
BELOW LEFT: Jim Bishop, 77, perches atop a turret of his castle. He placed every stone in the construction and continues his 52-year labor of love of what some consider the largest one-man building project in the world. (Photo courtesy of www.bishopcastle.org)
A stone wall protects the Bishop Castle, situated in the San Isabel National Forest near Rye, Colo. The geodesic dome on the right turret rotates as visitors walk the spiral staircase inside. (Photo by Rexjaymes/Shutterstock.com)
1971 he installed a 40-foot metal gravity-fed cistern for the budding family’s use.
As he erected the cottage walls, neighbors, friends and passersby commented how much the construction project resembled a castle. By late spring 1972, with his imagination in overdrive, he began announcing that he was, in fact, building a castle and converted his modest initial effort into perhaps the world’s largest one-man building project.
When he launched his castle-building dream, Bishop didn’t intend to do it alone. For the first eight years of construction, he accepted all offers of assistance. But none of the prospective Good Samaritans ever made good on their promises to help, so he vowed, “By God, I’ve gotten this far by myself. If you’re going to do something right, do it yourself.”
And he did—without plans, schematics or blueprints—the castle taking shape as features “suggested themselves” or were added as Bishop visualized them in his mind. The only drawing of Bishop Castle is the one he created to illustrate his 1990 book, “Castle Building From My Point of View.”
Bishop’s unstoppable work ethic (he even spurned his doctor’s order of bed rest after his cancer diagnosis) is fueled by personal compulsion coupled with inspiration beyond his control. According to the attraction’s official website, www.bishopcastle.org, “The more Jim experienced massive wonder himself about how certain features lined up or fell into place is when he started suspecting that maybe something The castle interior includes a grand ballroom appointed with stained glass windows and a hand-forged wrought iron archway. (Photo by Rexjayme/Shutterstock.com)
‘more’ was going on, that maybe it was the Creator of All Things working through him in this magnificent endeavor that seemed to have a spirit of its own.”
As the project grew to unignorable proportions, more and more visitors stopped by the site. One of his friends suggested the castle could be a real moneymaker, but Bishop revealed his altruistic character by refusing to consider the proposal.
According to the attraction’s website, “He hated it when he was a kid and couldn’t go to the zoo or the ballpark because admission for the whole family was too high for a bunch of working class folks. Seeing as the original idea for a castle came from people visiting the property, Jim figured that if people were welcomed onto the property for free then he could put out a donation box and people could put in there what they felt comfortable putting in there. The honor system would be the financier.”
All along Bishop tussled with authorities, including the Bureau of Land Management, IRS, Custer County code enforcement and Department of Transportation, and an unscrupulous former friend who sought to usurp ownership rights over the property. All the skirmishes have been settled or otherwise resolved in his favor.
Viewing America as “a free country made up of free persons,” Bishop drew up legal documents ensuring the castle would offer free admission as long as it stood. Every year, thousands of people visit the castle—at their own risk, as stated on the entrance signs—and the site hosts wedding ceremonies year-round. A significant portion of the tours, all self-guided, is not for the acrophobic.
Bishop is not yet finished with his medieval fantasy project. He plans to add a moat and drawbridge, a roller coaster mounted on an outer wall and a balcony large enough to accommodate an orchestra.
Bishop Castle is located at 12705 State Highway 165, Rye, Colo. Castle hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. every day during the summer season and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during winter. Summer gift shop hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday in the winter.
For more information, call (719) 564-4366 or visit www.bishopcastle.org or www.facebook.com/bishopcastlecolorado
